Eastern Territories Research Articles

Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī’s Commentary on Ibn Sīnā’s Qānūn in Historical Context: Edition and Translation of the Preface

Abstract Ibn Sīnā’s al-Qānūn fī l-ṭibb, especially its first book, al-Kulliyyāt, elicited dozens of commentaries from the 6th/12th century through the 8th/14th century. Among them, Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī’s commentary, entitled al-Tuḥfa al-saʿdiyya, is distinguished in that in it he analyzed and synthesized almost all commentaries written before his death in 710/1311. This article shows how Shīrāzī bridged some of the political boundaries that divided the Islamic world after the Mongol invasion to gather his predecessors’ commentaries, as well as other sources for composing al-Tuḥfa al-saʿdiyya. Shīrāzī’s extensive travels and proximity to patronage allowed him to acquire, and later disseminate, medical and scientific texts that were otherwise unavailable in Anatolia and the eastern territories of the Islamic world.

Dystopia of the “Chinese” Future of Siberia and the Russian Far East (Based on Youtube Video Hosting Materials)

The article analyzes Russian perceptions of the Chinese threat to Siberia and the Far East and addresses the questions of who, how and why posts content related to China's negative influence on Russia's border regions on Youtube. The author collected the most popular videos on Youtube using the keywords "China" and "Siberia"/"Far East". Then, on the one hand, the video's producers, themes and images of the present and future were classified, and, on the other hand, there was analyzed what kind of subject they create and what they criticized through statements about the Chinese threat. The analysis shows that knowledge about the Chinese threat is performative, i.e. it creates a new reality and stimulates the production of new content on Russia, Russian foreign policy and policy on the development of the eastern territories. Statements about the Chinese threat cannot be attributed to any ideology and, due to their high political potential, can be mobilized by any political forces. Three variants of the Chinese dystopia of Russia's eastern regions can be distinguished: 1) China has already secretly occupied these territories, 2) Russia is gradually losing these territories, and 3) China is preparing a rapid military invasion of Russia's border regions. The propagators of the China threat do not focus on China, the Far East, or Siberia. They create a completely different subject - either the Russian state with a dysfunctional central government and corrupt bureaucracy, or the enemies of the Russian state, including the Russian opposition. China is at best imagined as an ideal Other that enjoys geopolitical advantages over a weak neighbor due to the cohesion and industriousness of the nation, the capacity of the government and good leadership, i.e., all the characteristics that the video's authors believe Russia lacks.

Polskie kresy – bliskie i dalekie (1918-1939)

: The subject of Borderlands situated further away and close by is presented not by accident. In the Polish historical narrative, we usually remember only about the Eastern Borderlands. Created by Henryk Sienkiewicz’s “Trilog”, known from the pages of Polish history, being a place of birth to Polish poets, they are inevitably memorable and integral part of Poland’s national tradition. This notion is so strong that the word ‘Borderlands’ is associated only with the formed eastern territories of Poland. We do not use this terminology for other areas. We think only of the eastern borderlands which were gradually lost between the 17th and 20th century. This article also mentions this fact. Nevertheless, the article presents a slightly different perspective, i.e. it tries to present the Borderlands that were distant because they were unknown or known very little, the Borderlands which did not manage to enter the Polish narratives and Polish historical memory for good. They entered Poland for a very short time and disappeared for it very quickly. Nowadays they are abroad and they are practically unknown. The distant, unknown former Polish western Borderlands was Trans-Olza (Zaolzie). The Silesian residents living there in the 19th century shaped mostly Polish national identity, i.e. at the time when the then modern European nations were establishing. Undoubtedly, this was influenced by a strong economic development of the territory of Cieszyn Silesia. On the one hand, it was a blessing, but on the other hand, it turned out to be its curse, causing the rivalry over this land between the Poles and Czechs. The conflict over this territory, where the ethnic issues played no significant role for the powers considering this matter. Moreover, it inscribed into different types of territorial conflicts that Europe experienced after the First World War. For the borders established by the victorious allied forces as part of the Versailles treaty were not entirely fair in any place, which, in turn, is an obvious matter because it is never possible to set borders that would fully satisfy all the parties of the conflict. This was also the case of the Polish-Czech conflict over Cieszyn Silesia. The rivalry did not cease with the borders being established by the allied forces in July 1920, and both countries were still interested in the population living there. The population faced assimilative activities as the so-called ‘Polonized Moravians’ by the Czechoslovakian Republic. On the other hand, this population became a causation for Poland when reclaiming this area in autumn 1938. In the second part of the article presents the realities of life in Trans-Olza in the second half of the 1930s, which were witnessed by Paweł Hulka-Laskowski. He collected material for his monumental work on Trans-Olza Silesia. This work is practically unknown today, but it is an equivalent of the results of Melchior Wańkowicz’s travels around East Prussia in the book Na tropach Smętka. Who has ever heard in Poland of the work by Paweł Hulka-Laskowski Śląsk za Olzą Similarly, who has the knowledge of the long-forgotten Western Borderlands? This article introduces readers to this subject matter.

Deutsche Rindergrammatik; or, The Once and Future Aurochs

The essay compares the back-breeding of the extinct aurochs by the German zoologists Lutz and Heinz Heck with the reconstruction of past Germanic languages and mythologies by Jacob Grimm. It then points to similarities between current rewilding projects and the absorption of the Hecks’ back-breeding venture into the broader National Socialist vision of racial rewilding in the conquered eastern territories. Finally, it argues that the aurochs resurrection heralds the coming of a future age of total bioengineering.

Recovery of complete genome sequences of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) directly from clinical samples: A comparative study between targeted enrichment and metagenomic approaches

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is the most prevalent human tick-borne viral disease, endemic to the Balkans, Africa, Middle East and Asia. There are currently no licensed vaccines or effective antivirals against CCHF. CCHF virus (CCHFV) has a negative sense segmented tripartite RNA genome consisting of the small (S), medium (M) and large (L) segments. Depending on the segment utilised for genetic affiliation, there are up to 7 circulating lineages of CCHFV. The current lack of geographical representation of CCHFV sequences in various repositories highlights a requirement for increased CCHFV sequencing capabilities in endemic regions. We have optimised and established a multiplex PCR tiling methodology for the targeted enrichment of complete genomes of Europe 1 CCHFV lineage directly from clinical samples and compared its performance to a non-targeted enrichment approach on both short-read and long-read sequencing platforms. We have found a statistically significant increase in mapped viral sequencing reads produced with our targeted enrichment approach. This has allowed us to recover near complete S segment sequences and above 90% of the M and L segment sequences for samples with Ct values as high as 31.3. This study demonstrates the superiority of a targeted enrichment approach for recovery of CCHFV genomic sequences from samples with low virus titre. CCHFV is an important vector-borne human pathogen with wide geographical distribution. The validated methodology reported here adds value to front-line public health laboratories employing genomic sequencing for CCHFV Europe 1 lineage surveillance, particularly in the Balkan and Middle Eastern territories currently monitoring the spread of the pathogen. Tracking the genomic evolution of the virus across regions improves risk assessment and directly informs the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.

Assessment of Competitiveness and Economic Security Far Eastern Macroregion Subjects

Assessment of Competitiveness and Economic Security Far Eastern Macroregion Subjects Currently, as a result of a special military operation and the introduction of sanctions against Russia, threats to the economic security and national sovereignty of the country have increased. In these conditions, one of the key tools for accelerating its economic development are measures of state regulation of competitiveness and security, where the regional aspect is becoming increasingly relevant. Geographical and other characteristics of the Far Eastern territories are widely used in the scientific literature, the idea is formed that there really exists a macro-regional community called the Far East. An analysis of historical experience and the current situation shows that the importance of the Far East for the Russian economy is enormous. The Eastern territories have been supplying Russia with key raw materials for centuries, providing access to the most important markets of the Asia-Pacific region, and contributing to improving the country’s competitiveness and economic security. The authors propose an approach to assessing the competitiveness and economic security of the Far Eastern macroregion based on the developed system of private indicators.

K-Means Clustering Algorithm for Partitioning the Openness Levels of Open Government Data Portals

More and more local governments in Indonesia are making their data available to the public. This benefits data scientists, researchers, business owners, and other potential users seeking datasets for empirical research and business innovation. However, just because Open Government Data (OGD) portals are accessible does not mean that they necessarily adhere to the established rules and principles of data openness. To evaluate the level of openness of 24 OGD portals in Indonesia, this study used the K-means Clustering algorithm to partition them into three levels: Leaders, Followers, and Beginners. A group of 30 participants, including researchers, data scientists, business enablers, and graduate students, rated the portals on 32 sub-questions related to the eight main principles of data disclosure, focusing on health, population, and education datasets. The study found that eight portals were categorized as Leaders, ten as Followers, and seven as Beginners regarding their level of openness. The study demonstrated that the K-means Clustering algorithm can be effectively used to assess the degree of openness of OGD portals in Indonesia based on eight main principles of data openness. The study recommends increasing the number of OGD portals in eastern territories to supplement the existing case studies in the western and central regions.

Genomic analysis reveals complex population structure within the smooth newt, Lissotriton vulgaris, in Central Europe.

Species with wide-range distributions usually display high genetic variation. This variation can be partly explained by historical lineages that were temporally isolated from each other and are back into secondary reproductive contact, and partly by local adaptations. The smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris) is one of the most widely distributed amphibians species across Eurasia and forms a species complex with a partially overlapping distribution and morphology. In the present study, we explored the population genomic structure of smooth newt lineages in the Carpathian Basin (CB) relying on single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Our dataset included new and previously published data to study the secondary contact zone between lineages in the CB and also tested for the barrier effect of rivers to gene flow between these lineages. We confirmed the presence of the South L. v. vulgaris Lineage distributed in Transdanubia and we provided new distribution records of L. v. ampelensis inhabiting the eastern territories of the CB. High genetic diversity of smooth newts was observed, especially in the North Hungarian Mountains and at the interfluves of the main rivers in the South with four distinct lineages of L. v. vulgaris and one lineage of L. v. ampelensis showing a low level of admixture with the spatially closest L. v. vulgaris lineage. Moreover, admixture detected at the interfluve of the main rivers (i.e. Danube and Tisza) suggested a secondary contact zone in the area. Finally, we found that the river Danube has a very weak effect on population divergence, while the river Tisza is a geographical barrier limiting gene flow between smooth newt lineages. As the range boundaries of L. v. vulgaris and L. v. ampelensis in the CB coincide with the river Tisza, our study underpins the influence of rivers in lineage diversification.

TO THE 105<sup>TH</sup> ANNIVERSARY OF THE BOTANICAL CABINET OF THE YUZHNO-USSURIYSK BRANCH OF THE RUSSIAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY (NIKOLSK-USSURIYSKY)

In 2023, it will be 105 years since the formation of the first botanical scientific institution in the Russian Far East – the Botanical Cabinet of the South Ussuri Branch of the Amur Department of the Russian Geographical Society. The main direction of its research was the floristic study of the south of the Soviet Far East. Over 11 years of its existence, the staff of the Cabinet under the leadership of Ye.N. Alisova-Klobukova carried out numerous field route studies, including three large botanical expeditions in the south of Primorye Territory. The main result of the work was the publication of the Short Guide to Plants of the Far Eastern Territory (1925).

EDUCATIONAL ISSUES ON THE PAGES OF POLISH JOURNALES IN LVIV (LATE XIX – EARLY XX CENTURIES)

The purpose of the study is to show how Lviv cinema was covered in the Polish scientific press. XIX – beginning 20th century issues of the history of education in the eastern territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, systematicity, scientificity, verification, authorial objectivity using general scientific and special historical methods. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that, for the first time, based on the materials of the studies included in the Polish historical journals of Lviv at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, an attempt was made to identify the dominant themes in the study of the history of education in the borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Conclusions. This led to the creation of the first Polish Professional Historical Society (1886) and the emergence of a number of amateur and professional journals in the field of history (“Przewodnik Naukowy i Literacki”, “Kwartalnik Historyczny”, “Ruś”). It is shown that a significant place in these publications was occupied by Ukrainian issues, which were covered in various formats – from popular science research and essays in cryptohistorical publications to intelligence, source materials and reviews, which formed the basis of content in specialized projects. The study of publications on educational topics made it possible to identify a number of topics, among which a prominent place was occupied by issues of education in the Ukrainian territory of the Commonwealth. It is shown that historical investigations of educational publications were designed to arouse interest in learning about the past, which Polish researchers perceived as an integral part of the legacy of the destroyed Commonwealth, and for many of them were a small homeland and foster patriotic feelings. It has been established that a notable feature of popular science journals was the romanticization of the past and the interpretation of education and historical memory as an outpost for the preservation of Polish cultural traditions in these lands. With the professionalization of historical studies, intelligence became more professional, and the place of legends was taken by scientific elaborations of sources based on the application of a critical method, which translated the interpretation of education into the spread of Western culture in the east.

Siberian Merchants in Mikhail M. Speransky’s Travel Diary and Letters (1819–1821)

Mikhail M. Speransky was one of the most outstanding statesman of the Russian Empire. He was the Siberian Governor-General in 1819–1821. His Siberian travel diary and correspondence cast light upon the interaction between state power and private capital during the economic and socio-cultural integration of the Eastern territories. The research objective was to reveal M. M. Speransky’s opinion about Siberian merchants, who were the most influential regional community. The analysis included M. M. Speransky’s brief diary entries and long letters to his daughter and friends, and as well as his business correspondence. M. M. Speransky believed that Siberian merchants were to play an important role in the development of regional economy and society. Numerous contacts with representatives of merchants from different Siberian cities allowed him to make observations about the moods spread in the merchant environment, the volume and features of commercial operations, their social role, etc. He also established good relations with the most prominent merchants. M. M. Speransky wrote about everyday life, culture, and economic relations of Siberian communities. He advocated the freedom of trade and despised the selfish attitude of the local administrations to the merchant class. He gathered information from different sources, including personal conversations with merchants, and developed an opinion on such important state issues as the activities of the Russian-American Company and the Russian-Chinese trade via Kyakhta. M. M. Speransky’s had a pragmatic interest in merchants and encouraged them to make charity donations for various needs.

War Against the Tamil Tigers: How Did Sri Lanka Win?

The final Eelam War that was fought during 2006 to 2009, the Sri Lankan State for the first time in the history witnessed the crystallisation of the trends in favour of it against the Tamil tigers or LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as Tamil Tigers). With gradual liberation of north and eastern territory first that where under the clutches of LTTE for long and later dislodging Tigers’ command control, in three years’ timeline the Sri Lankan Armed Forces (SLAF) annihilated the Tigers entirely in May 2009. The victory of the SLAF brought three decade long armed conflict to an end that caused the death of over 100,000 and displacement of millions. While noticing the progress of the security forces and the way things unfolded, the pertinent questions that arise are: How did the Mahinda Rajapaksa government won the war? Was there a game plan with the government since the beginning of Eelam War IV? If so, what was that strategy? If not, how did they go ahead? Although there was no explicit publicly pronounced strategy by the Sri Lankan government for dislodging the Tigers but it appears their evolved game plan was broadly centered around ten points. They were: one, winning local constituency support; two, silence critics; three, build strong military, four, entice Karuna, five, shed conventional military methods; six, shrivel Tigers territories; seven, keep in loop but deter India; eight, diplomatic neutralise West; nine, curb Tigers’s international network; and finally, liquidate Tigers’ top leadership. The paper analyzes these aspects in details in this paper. Keywords: Sri Lanka, LTTE, Tamil Tigers, Eelam, Rajapaksa

Results of a Joint Epizootiological Survey of Transboundary Natural Plague Foci of the Russian Federation and Potentially Focal Territories of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2019–2022

Consolidation of the efforts in implementation of epidemiological surveillance and control over plague and other dangerous natural-focal infections is an essential aspect in ensuring epidemiological well-being as regards particularly dangerous infectious diseases in the territory of natural plague foci and potentially focal territories located within the borders of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan. The aim of the work was to carry out a joint epizootiological survey of the transboundary territories of the Volga-Ural sandy natural plague focus and the territory of the East Kazakhstan region of the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK) potentially focal for plague over the period of 2019–2022. Materials and methods. Samples of field materials, collected during the epizootiological survey of the territory of Kazakhstan, were studied using bacteriological, molecular-genetic, and immune-serological methods. Results and discussion. We have obtained the current evidence on the spatial-biocenotic structure, the circulation of pathogens of dangerous natural-focal infectious diseases in the transboundary territories of Eastern and Western Kazakhstan. It has been established that the conditions that contribute to the possibility of human infection with plague and other dangerous infectious diseases in case of the aggravation of epizootic situation in the foci or importation of the pathogens into the territory are in place.

The Jesuit Community of the Lithuanian Province: Between Local Crises and Global Changes

Abstract The paper analyzes the community of the Lithuanian province of the Society of Jesus between 1608 and 1773. It adopts a prosopographical approach based on the full set of the order’s personnel catalogs for the Lithuanian and Masovian provinces, which have been analyzed by means of RStudio, an integrated development environment based on the R programming language. The author focuses on the total number of Jesuits in the province, their religious or secular status, final vows, education, regional distribution, and geographic origin. In the long term, changes mainly depended on local factors such as the cultural assimilation of the inhabitants of the eastern territories marked by the influence of the Orthodox Church. In the short term, wars and epidemics also played an important role. However, some of the trends in the Lithuanian province, such as the number of professed of the four vows, which increased due to the larger availability of theological courses during religious formation, were similar to those in other administrative units of the Society. Overall, the article demonstrates that the seventeenth-century crises had a profound impact on the Jesuit community both in terms of numbers and internal structure.

O risco político da guerra da Ucrânia para o mercado global de combustíveis: o caso da British Petroleum na Rússia

Abstract In February 2022, Russia invaded the eastern territories of Ukraine. Three days after the invasion, pressured by public opinion and the British government, British Petroleum (BP) announced the abandonment of its almost 20% equity shareholding in Russian state-owned Rosneft at an estimated cost of USD 25 billion for the company. The case puts the reader in the position of CEO Bernard Looney to reflect on the redesign of the company’s strategy with regard to assessing the impact of political risk on its other businesses in the world. The case was designed for undergraduate and graduate students in Business Administration, International Relations, and related areas who want to address topics such as oil geopolitics, business strategy, political risk, and international business.

The Polish Catholic Church under German Occupation: The Reichsgau Wartheland, 1939–1945

The Polish Catholic Church under German Occupation: The Reichsgau Wartheland, 1939–1945

МЕТОДИ ПОРЯТУНКУ МІЗОЦЬКИХ ЄВРЕЇВ ПІД ЧАС ГОЛОКОСТУ

Based on the example of the town of Mizoch in Volhynia, the article attempts to analyze the survival strategies of Jews during the Holocaust, as well as the reasons that influenced the survival during the Nazi genocide. The number of the Jews who survived depended on their position during the Soviet regime, when some of them were deported and sent to the regions of the far North. Drafting to the ranks of the Soviet army and the evacuation of Jews to the East played a special role. Thus, these Jews left the later occupied territory beforehand. However, not all of them managed to survive in the end. Potential opportunities to save the lives of Jews were provided by escape and evacuation from the occupied territories. However, not everyone could use such a way of survival. Many Jews hesitated to leave the town. The unknown sequences of moving to the eastern territories of the USSR were frightening. Nevertheless, compared to the indicators of other Volhynian towns, quite a lot of Mizoch Jews, 15%, managed to survive due to the evacuation, After the mass killing, the willingness of local residents to take the risk of hiding Jews was of great importance for the number of the survivors. Often, people who tried to help the Jews gave them food and asked them to leave. However, despite the threat of execution, there were local residents who hid the victims of the Holocaust. At least five nationalities (Ukrainians, Czechs, Poles, Russians, and Germans) were recorded as rescuing the Jews of Mizoch during the Nazi occupation. The Slobodiuk family was among them – Sydir, his wife Yustyna and their daughter Maria, who are the only Mizoch family officially recognized as the Righteous Among the Nations. German engineer Hermann Graebe was also awarded the title of the Righteous Among the Nations for rescuing the victims of the Holocaust, including the Jews of Mizoch.

«Жесткая» и «гибкая» власть континентальной империи: реминисценции на историческую тему

In this paper, the author attempts to apply the concept of ‘soft power’ developed by J. Nye, which has been established in the field of international relations and political science, to the historical domain, and specifically to the analysis of basic trends in the development of the Russian Empire and the USSR. The peculiarities of the balance of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ power tools are identified with regards to the totalitarian (authoritarian) and democratic regimes. The concept of ‘smart power’ is placed into the context of historical research. The author points out the connection between the mechanisms of ‘soft power’ and the development of civil society. Russia and the USSR are presented as continental empires of the colonial type, which possessed internal colonies and dependent territories. Against the background of the general patterns of development of continental empires, which include territorial expansion, the specifics of the USSR are shown. It is determined that expanding the resource base under the dominance of the vector of extensive development, ensuring ‘security’ of the imperial ‘heartland’ at the expense of peripheral territories, and maintaining the geopolitical status have been the key drivers of development of continental empires. In relation to the USSR, the specific function of the metropolis, or capital city of the empire, is underlined. The author pays particular attention to the development of the eastern territories, and Siberia as an internal colony, that was based on the principle of ‘a region for the country’ while ignoring its own interests and internal needs. This has formed a stable matrix of suboptimal centre-periphery relations in the country. It is noted that the empire preserved itself as a single state based on the synergy of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ power, projected both into the intra-imperial space and outside. The gradual degradation of the ‘smart power’ tools used by the Soviet regime is shown. It is concluded that the collapse of the USSR meant an imbalance and loss of efficiency in the use of factors and tools of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ power, and now Russia is still experiencing a post-imperial syndrome. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the loss of satellite countries made it necessary to shift the emphasis to internal stabilization. However, the influence of two key arguments: nuclear weapons and huge resources and territory, ensured the preservation of the previous ambitions.

МОРФОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ ТИПЫ СКИФОВ СЕВЕРНОГО ПРИЧЕРНОМОРЬЯ В АСПЕКТЕ ИХ ГЕНЕЗИСА

The question of the anthropological composition of the Scythians in connection with the eastern migration impulses is considered in the article by systematizing and interpreting the data of physical anthropology according to the craniological material of the Northern Black Sea region and adjacent territories. Anthropological material does not show the movement from adjacent and more distant eastern territories in the Pre-Scythian and Scythian times of large groups of the population, differing in craniological parameters from the autochthonous population.

Интегральная оценка ресурсного потенциала агропродовольственных систем регионов Дальневосточного федерального округа

In order to achieve the goals of full food supply to the population and at the same time more rational and efficient use of limited resources (land, labor, material and technical, etc.), it is advisable to use an integrated assessment of the resource potential of the agro-food systems of the regions. In the Far Eastern Federal District, there is a significant heterogeneity of the resource potential of regional agro-food systems. Khabarovsk and Kamchatka Territories, Magadan Region, the Republic of Sakha and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug have extremely low land potential. In the same regions (except the Kamchatka Territory), there is a low social and labor potential. In the Trans-Baikal Territory, the Republic of Buryatia, the Republic of Sakha, the Jewish Autonomous Region and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, measures are needed to increase the availability of funds and the stock of labor in the agricultural sector. Some Far Eastern territories with an excess of agricultural land (the Republics of Buryatia, the Trans-Baikal Territory, the Jewish Autonomous Region), but low production and rental opportunities, remain without labor and investment, continue to lose the already dilapidated material and technical base and cannot provide their own population with food. At the same time, in these regions, it is the land resource that is in excess that can be considered as a comparative competitive advantage. However, an unfavorable combination of resource groups, to a certain extent a consequence of destructive socio-economic policy, does not ensure a balanced territorial development of the country and hinders the progressive development of agro-food systems in many of its regions. The results of the potential assessment obtained in the course of the study can be used to identify «problem areas» in the resource provision of agro-food systems of regions, optimize the parameters of the territorial distribution of productive forces, deepen specialization, as well as substantiate the volume of state support.